1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle seat which comprises a seat cushion, a seat back supported to the seat cushion in such a manner that a space is left between a rear end portion of the seat cushion and a lower end portion of the seat back, and a cover means for concealing the space between the seat cushion and the seat back from a rear side of the vehicle seat in order to add the appearance of the vehicle seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of vehicle seats, there has been known a vehicle seat which comprises a seat cushion, a seat back pivotally supported to the seat cushion in such a manner that a space is left between a rear end portion of the seat cushion and a lower end portion of the seat back, a cover for concealing the space between the seat cushion and the seat back from a rear side of the vehicle seat, and a pair of spaced apart leg members attached to the seat cushion (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei. 8-276770). The vehicle seat further includes a pair of spaced apart recliner devices provided at both sides of the vehicle seat for allowing the seat back to be pivoted relative to the seat cushion. A connecting shaft interconnects the spaced apart recliner devices.
In the conventional vehicle seat, the cover is sewed at an upper end portion thereof to a lower portion of a back of the seat back, extends around the rear end portion of the seat cushion from the seat back, and is caught at a lower end portion thereof by a supporting wire which is stretched between the spaced apart leg members. More particularly, the cover comprises a cover body which is provided with a clamp member having the shape of an Ohm symbol in cross-section, the clamp being attached to a substantially middle region of the cover body so as to extend along a width of the cover body, and a hook member having a substantially J-shape as viewed from the side, the hook member being attached to the lower end portion of the cover body. The cover is provided at the vehicle seat by causing the upper end portion of the cover body to be sewed to the lower portion of the back of the seat back as discussed above, causing the clamp member to be fixedly fitted on the connecting shaft interconnecting the spaced apart recliner devices, and causing the hook member to be caught by the supporting wire stretched between the spaced apart leg members.
Generally, transporting of a vehicle seat of this type, for example, the transporting of the vehicle seat into a vehicle body for causing the vehicle seat to be mounted on a floor of the vehicle body is carried out utilizing a lifter. More particularly, the transporting of the vehicle seat is performed while causing a tip end portion of a lifting arm of the lifter to be inserted through a space between a rear end portion of a seat cushion and a lower end portion of a seat back of the vehicle seat and causing the entire vehicle seat to be lifted up by the lifting arm.
However, when the conventional vehicle seat described above is to be transported, it is impossible to cause the tip end portion of the lifting arm to be inserted through the space between the seat cushion and the seat back, since the cover body is fixed to the connecting shaft through the clamp member and prevents the tip end portion of the lifting arm from being inserted through the space between the seat cushion and the seat back.